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Preds sign Mason to two-year extension

Nashville Predators Executive Vice President/General Manager David Poile announced Tuesday that the club has signed goaltender Chris Mason to a two-year contract extension.

Mason, 31 (4/20/76), ranked second in the National Hockey League in save percentage (.925), tied for sixth in shutouts (5) and ranked tenth in goals-against average (2.35) in 2006-07. The Red Deer, Alta. native established NHL career-highs in games played (40), wins (24) and shutouts this past season, and he and Tomas Vokoun combined to give the Predators the second-highest team save percentage (.919) in the NHL and a team-record 11 shutouts.

Mason appeared in 22 consecutive games for Nashville from Nov. 23, 2006 –Jan. 6, 2007, the second-longest consecutive appearance streak in franchise history. He was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week for the week ending Dec. 17, 2006 after backstopping the Predators to four wins with a 1.21 GAA and a .958 save percentage.

In 84 career regular-season NHL games with the Predators, Mason has posted a 41-21-6 record with a .921 save percentage and a 2.43 goals-against average. Mason spent four years in the Predators’ organization before signing with Florida as an unrestricted free agent on August 20, 2002. He was then claimed by Nashville from the Panthers in the NHL Waiver Draft on October 3, 2003.

Mason, who will make $1.25 million in 2007-08, will be paid $3 million in each of the two seasons (2008-09 and 2009-10) of his contract.